Elizabeth Hopkinson's Hidden Grove

  Warning: contains spoilers A while back, I wrote a blog entitled Let’s Talk About Narnia  in which I bemoaned the fact that many authors seem to express disappointment with Narnia because of its “Christian allegory”. I’ve always felt that to say so is to not really “get” Narnia. For a start, it’s not even an allegory! And it has so many hidden depths, so many influences. If you want to truly understand Narnia, you must understand C.S. Lewis as an academic, an intellectual, apologist and medievalist, who debated with his fellow intellectuals, JRR Tolkien, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams a.k.a. The Inklings, and absorbed their ideas into his own.  Or you could read Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi . It’s a strange tale of a man called Piranesi (although he’s sure that’s not his name) who lives in a House of Gormenghast-like proportions, filled with statues, birds and tides. Twice a week, he meets with “The Other”, a surprisingly well-dressed and well-equipped man, whom Piranesi ...

Authors generally have a way of talking about Narnia. I’ve noticed it at the various literature festivals I’ve been to and in articles I’ve read online. It goes something like this. “When I was a kid, I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and fell in love with it. Then, at the age of 13/18/32, I noticed all the Christian symbolism and felt betrayed. I’ve never enjoyed it in the same way since.” Whenever I hear/read this, it’s like a stab to the heart. I want to get a word in. Because my experience of Narnia is the complete reverse. I first heard the story of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  as told over several school playtimes by my best friend, the son of a local nonconformist minister. I went on to become completely obsessed by the whole series, reading the books over and over again. Now, I don’t know if my friend or his parents told me, or I just worked it out because I was such a religiously precocious child (I was!) but I can’t remember a time when I didn’t...

For Christmas this year, I have returned to an old seasonal favourite: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.   I am a huge fan of Narnia and of CS Lewis, and on this 50th anniversary of his death, it seems appropriate to write something about Narnia, as well as about Christmas. You know what's coming, don't you?  Yes, I'd like to take a few moments to think about the gifts Father Christmas gives the children in Narnia, and some of the symbolism attached to them. Peter's sword and shield  Who wouldn't want to get these for Christmas?  These presents are a sign to Peter that he will become a knight.  There's an obvious connection with St Paul's letter to the Ephesians: "Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes". (1) Peter will ultimately be called upon to fight evil in the form of the White Witch and her army.  The rampant red lion on the shield shows not only his alliegance to Aslan, but Aslan...